Archery Release Device with Bowtie Cam

ABSTRACT

A triggerless back tension archery release device to assist archers in pulling a bow string to a fully drawn position and then releasing the bow string to fire an arrow. The surprise release timing is dependent upon a bowtie cam which is a bowtie shaped member containing various size corner edge notches. The bowtie cam may be rotated and then fixed at the desired orientation for pulling the arrow to the fully drawn position. The depth of the notch in the bowtie cam determines the surprise release timing. The bowtie cam is designed with a notch on each of the four corners. The bowtie cam may be reoriented to place any one of the four corner edge notches in the active position thus providing various degrees of flexibility for the surprise release timing.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/294,884, filed Jan. 14, 2010, andtitled “Back Tension Archery Release Device with Bowtie Cam” which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a triggerless back tension archery releasedevice for use with a bow string and more specifically, a four positionbowtie cam in a triggerless back tension release device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A back tension release device is one of several types of archery aidsused by archers to assist in pulling a bow string to a fully drawnposition and then releasing the bow string to fire the arrow.Nervousness and tension during the shooting motion, and the anticipatedrelease of the bow string, can result in a temporary loss of control,flinching, or an uncontrollable reflex movement, known as target panic,which can result in the arrow missing its target. Target panic is theinability of an archer to accurately aim and execute a controlled shotat the precise instant he/she intends to shoot.

A back tension release device allows for a surprise shot, thuseliminating the negative effects of target panic and improving shotconsistency. When the exact timing of a shot is controlled by an archer,there is a higher probability of an inaccurate shot. A back tensiondevice produces a surprise shot in which the exact timing of the releaseof the arrow is not controlled or known to the archer. The arrow releaseis initiated after the bow string is pulled to a fully drawn position bythe rotation of the back tension device in the archer's hand. A slightincrease in the tension at full draw coupled with a slight rotation ofthe archery release will cause the back tension device to release thestring.

Existing back tension release devices can contain a half moon or D-shapecam that can be adjusted to regulate the timing of the release. Aclicker half moon or D-shape cam has a notch machined into the shootingedge of the cam. The notch causes an audible click which notifies thearcher that the release is ready to fire, thus providing a referencebefore the arrow is released. This allows the archer to advance his/herdraw immediately to the click and then settle into his/her shot routinefor a surprise release. The timing from the click to the release can bechanged by using a cam with a different depth notch and the amount oftravel to reach the click is adjusted by rotating the cam.

The standard half moon or D-shape cam design has two locations wherenotches can be machined. A new cam design is desired in which a greaternumber of notches can be machined to provide greater timing flexibilityin a back tension release device while maintaining the ability to rotatethe cam to adjust the amount of travel to reach the click.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a triggerless back tension archery release aidsystem containing a novel bowtie cam which provides archers with anoption of four surprise release times. The bowstring release aid is heldin the hand of the archer and is used to draw back the bowstring. Thebowstring release aid is shaped and fitted to accommodate the fingers onthe hand while gripping the release. The bowstring is attached to thebowstring release aid with a sear hook which rotates and releases thebowstring upon proper force and angle.

The surprise release time may be changed by the adjustment of the bowtiecam. The orientation of the bowtie cam may be selected by the archer,thus positioning the desired corner notch in the active position for thesurprise release. The unique geometry of the bowtie cam allows for thearcher to select any one of the four possible corner notches for thesurprise release, in addition to rotating the cam for pull backadjustment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Understanding that drawings depict only certain preferred embodiments ofthe invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the preferred embodiments will be described and explained withadditional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 a is a drawing of the back tension archery release device.

FIG. 1 b shows the bowtie cam and other components attached to the stem.

FIG. 2 a is an isometric view of the bowtie cam.

FIG. 2 b is a drawing showing the bowtie cam with different notch sizes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, numerous specific details are provided fora thorough understanding of specific preferred embodiments. However,those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, etc. In some cases, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail in order to avoid obscuring aspects of the preferred embodiments.Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in a variety of alternativeembodiments. Thus, the following more detailed description of theembodiments of the present invention, as represented in the drawings, isnot intended to limit the scope of the invention, but is merelyrepresentative of the various embodiments of the invention.

The triggerless back tension release device 10, shown in FIG. 1 a,comprises a finger grip handle 11 with a stem 12 extending from betweena first finger groove 13 and a second finger groove 14. The finger griphandle 11 may be configured with four finger grooves 13, 14, 15, 16 asshown in FIG. 1. In other embodiments, the finger grip handle 11 may beconfigured with three finger grooves 13, 14, 15, or two finger grooves13, 14. A bowtie cam 17 and a sear 20 are connected to the end of thestem 12 with a linkage member 19.

FIG. 1 b shows the bowtie cam 17 is connected to the stem 12 and thelinkage member 19 by the bowtie pin 18. The sear 20 is connected to theopposite end of the linkage member 19 by the sear pin 21. The sear 20 isa crescent shaped member with the bow string hook 22 at the end oppositethe bowtie cam 17 and a corner edge 24 at the end near the bowtie cam17. When the bow string is in the bow string hook 22 at the beginning ofthe pull back, the corner edge 24 of the sear 20 is in contact with thesliding surface 23 of the bowtie cam 17. As the bow string is pulledback and the tension increases, the corner edge 24 slides along thesliding surface 23 of the bowtie cam 17 and comes to rest as it clicksinto the bowtie corner edge notch 25. The bowtie cam 17 is shown inFIGS. 2 a and 2 b with the corner edge notch 25 at the end of thesliding surface 23. The click indicates to the archer that the surpriserelease is imminent. Referring back to FIG. 1 a, as the pull backtension is increased, a threshold level is reached upon which the searcorner 24 disengages from the bowtie notch 25 and the sear 20 freelypivots around the sear pin 21 releasing the bow string from the bowstring hook 22.

The bowtie cam 17, shown in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, controls the pull backand surprise release characteristics of the triggerless back tensionarchery release device. The bowtie cam 17 is shaped similar to a bowtiewith a hole in the center. There are two curved side segments, alsoreferred to as curved adjustment surfaces 29 on opposite sides of thehole. The center region of these curved side segments 29 is concentricwith the hole and has a radius greater than the radius of the hole.There are two sliding surfaces 23 on opposite sides of the hole, aboveand below, which are concentric with the hole. These sliding surfaces 23have a radius greater than the radius of the curved side segments 29.

The bowtie cam 17 is held in place by the bowtie pin 18 passing throughthe center of the bowtie cam 17, the stem 12, and the linkage member 19.The bowtie pin 18 allows the bowtie cam 17 to be rotated by the archerto a desired position or orientation relative to the stem 12, thusproviding pull back adjustment for initiating the release. A screw orfastening mechanism (not shown) is tightened against the curvedadjustment surface 29 of the bowtie cam 17 to secure it in place andkeep it from rotating during a shot.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show corner edge notches 25, 26, 27, 28 cut from thecorners of the bowtie cam 17. The size of each notch 25, 26, 27, 28, isrelated to the surprise release point. For different embodiments, thenotches 25, 26, 27, 28 may be machined to various incremental depths,all the same depth, or a combination of equal and different depths. Thebowtie cam 17 may even contain one or more corners without a notch. Thegeometry of the bowtie cam allows the archer to re-orient the bowtie cam17 by loosening the screw or fastening mechanism and rotating the bowtiecam 17 to put a different notch in the active position against the sear20. The bowtie pin 18 may be removed and the bowtie cam 17 turned andreinserted to put another notch in the active position. For example,referring to FIG. 2 b, if notch 25 is in the active position, the bowtiecam 17 may be rotated around the bowtie pin 18 to place notch 27 in theactive position. Notch 28 may be moved to the active position byremoving bowtie pin 18, removing the bowtie cam 17 from the stem 12 andlinkage member 19, turning the bowtie cam 17 over and reinserting itinto the stem 12 and replacing the bowtie pin 18. From this positionnotch 26 may be moved to the active position by simply rotating thebowtie cam 17. The unique geometry of the bowtie cam 17 in thetriggerless back tension archery release device 10 allows for a range ofadjustable pull back characteristics and up to four different surprisetiming release options. With the same size notches, the archer mayre-orient the bowtie cam when one notch wears out, thus keeping the samesurprise timing and not having to replace the entire triggerless backtension archery release.

Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the artcan use the preceding description to utilize the invention to itsfullest extent. Therefore the examples and embodiments disclosed hereinare to be construed as merely illustrative and not a limitation of thescope. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention.

1. A triggerless back tension archery release device comprising: afinger grip handle including at least two finger grooves; a stemattached to and extending away from said handle; a bowtie shaped bowtiecam with a through hole in the center; a linkage member; a bowtie pinpassing through said hole in said bowtie cam to fasten said bowtie camto said stem and said linkage member; and a sear having a bow stringhook on one end and fastened to said linkage member with a sear pin,wherein increasing the tension on the bow string causes the rotation ofsaid sear relative to said bowtie cam resulting in the bow string beingreleased.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said bowtie cam has twocurved side segments, two curved sliding surfaces, and a notch in atleast one corner edge.
 3. The device of claim 2 wherein said bowtie camcan be re-oriented in said triggerless back tension archery releasedevice to put a different said corner edge in the active position. 4.The device of claim 2 wherein the center regions of said curved sidesegments are concentric with said hole and have a radius greater thanthe radius of said hole.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein said slidingsurfaces are concentric with said hole and have a radius greater thansaid radius of said curved side segments.
 6. The device of claim 3wherein said notches in said bowtie cam are different sizes.
 7. Thedevice of claim 3 wherein two said notches in said bowtie cam are equalsizes.
 8. The device of claim 3 wherein three said notches in saidbowtie cam are equal sizes.
 9. The device of claim 3 wherein four saidnotches in said bowtie cam are equal sizes.
 10. A cam for a triggerlessback tension archery release device comprising: a component in the shapeof a bowtie with a through hole in the center; two curved side segments;two curved sliding surfaces; and a notch in at least one corner edge.11. The cam of claim 10 wherein said curved side segments are onopposite sides of said hole and the center regions of said curved sidesegments are concentric with said hole and have a radius greater thanthe radius of said hole.
 12. The cam of claim 11 wherein said slidingsurfaces are on opposite sides of said hole and are concentric with saidhole and have a radius greater than said radius of said curved sidesegments.
 13. The cam of claim 10 wherein said notches are differentsizes.
 14. The cam of claim 10 wherein two said notches are equal sizes.15. The cam of claim 10 wherein three said notches are equal sizes. 16.The cam of claim 10 wherein four said notches are equal sizes.